Soufriere Saint Lucia

Once a year, I take a trip with one of my best friends, Michelle who also happens to be a professional photographer (see her work here). Last year, we visited Eleuthera Bahamas (see our best photos from that trip here).

This year, we decided to check out another Caribbean island.

Soufriere is a colorful rural city on the exotic island of Saint Lucia. The city embraced us with open arms and delighted us with friendly people, lush vegetation and delicious food. My friend Michelle and I decided to overlook the fact that Saint Lucia is known to be a “honey moon” destination. Instead we packed our professional cameras and decided to explore a part of this island on our own.

We had many adventures (including “almost dying” from ingesting improperly cooked -by us- cassava root) and filled 5 days with months worth of fun, leisure and beautiful photos. Below is a glimpse of our St. Lucia story in pictures (all photos here were taken either by me or Michelle).

Overall Impressions- Romance, generosity and abundance

St. Lucia is a sensory overload, in the best possible way. Scents, colors, tastes, views combine to offer a varied and intense experience for the senses. From mineral springs that make your skin feel like you’ve had a two hour facial to grey water falls and spectacular beaches, St. Lucia’s natural beauty is truly incomparable and unforgettable.

We arrived in the “off” season when it rains(more like sprinkles) 5 times a day. This also happens to be mango season. Now, when they say mango season this literally means there is so much mango fallen on the road that the streets turn yellow from the car squished fruit, filling the air with the delicious smell of ripe, sweet mango. And yes, I ate more mango in 5 days than the entire year and yes, it was the best mango I have ever had.

As a photographer and a strongly visual person, one of the highlights of the trip for me was the variety of landscapes, colors and vegetation. It was really hard to put the camera down. Two thousand photos later, I came home filled with awe and appreciation for the beauty of this world.

In all honesty, I totally get it why this is such a fabulous honey moon destination. There is peace, love and pleasure to be discovered and enjoyed at every corner. And while these things are waiting to be discovered no matter where you live, it just seems to me that they are a touch more readily accessible in Saint Lucia.

Transportation and Accomodations

Michelle and I aim to avoid all inclusive resorts. We love to explore on our own. It offers us organic, authentic experiences of the culture and people of that place.

We rented a car and Michelle drove the entire time, while I felt called to cook our meals (brilliant arrangement).

For accommodations, we chose an Air BnB with a spectacular view of the city. We had the whole place to ourselves. We spent less that $200 each for 5 nights which is incomparably cheaper that the $850/night Sandals resort a few miles down the road. Most of our resting time was spent on the balcony where we had our meals while watching over the gorgeous panorama of city and the pitons (the mountain like peaks that define St. Lucia).

We shopped at the local grocery store and aimed to eat breakfast and lunch at home, while seeking dinner at local restaurants. The food was some of the best I have ever had while travelling. Fresh cooked vegetables and seafood, bready fruits and incredibly flavored deserts made us look forward to every evening out.

The locals were incredibly generous, often offering us more than we had bargained for which touched me and inspired me every single time. I was reminded that a feeling of abundance does not come from how much you own but how much you celebrate and share what you already have. 

Super Man Falls

It took us about two hours to walk to Super Man Falls and back alongside our patient and knowledgeable guides. We didn’t know what to expect. Wayne and Justus kept the stroll interesting by offering us flowers or fruit they picked as we walked, or leaves that had therapeutic smells. They shared a lot of information about local natural remedies.

Once we arrived the view took my breath away. Because the waterfall is so close to the local mud baths, the water is colored grey by the surphuric mud. We spent quite a while taking photos and enjoying the water. I didn’t want to leave.

Mud Baths

This is where people come and pay to cover themselves in stinky mud. Yep, it’s all true. The sulphur springs come from the volcano on the island. They are believed to have healing properties (detoxify, reduce inflammation and heal the skin). The springs are hot so it’s not recommended you spend more than 20 minutes in the water (just like a sauna). I personally forgot to mind the time and was a bit light headed afterwards. Overall, the mud baths provided a fun experience (once you get over the smell) and our skin felt amazing for days afterwards.

Anse Chastanet Beach Soufriere Saint Lucia

This beach was out of a movie…Dark sand, still waters, interesting ruin looking like rocks, complete privacy…how is this place real?

Sugar Beach

In order to fully explain the magic of this beach I must share a bit about the two pitons. The pitons are mountainous rock formations formed by the volcano on the island. The locals call them “the breasts of the island”.

Well, sugar beach was located right in between them.  So imagine having solid beautiful mountains at your back while you’re on a white sand blue water luxury resort beach. The water was so clear I was finally able to successfully use my go pro under water. Yay! The white sand had been imported by the resort owners from Trinidad and Tobago. We came here twice, including on the last evening. We even met a young man who was willing to “hook us up” with whatever we needed. He gifted us animals he hand made from palm tree leaves.

If you choose to come here for your honey moon or with your best friend, you won’t be disappointed.

Tet Paul Nature Trail

Hello, gorgeous mother nature! Heaven is definitely a place on Earth and at least a portion of it is on this nature trail.

Brand Collaborations

Since Michelle has recently answered her calling towards the beautiful journey of becoming a professional photographer, we decided to spend part of this trip to develop our photography skills. For this reason we partnered up with a couple of brands to offer them beautiful product photography taken on a remote, tropical island. Here are some of our favorite results. Click on the photo to find out more about each product.

Eleuthera Bahamas- An Island Made For Pretty Photos

I recently took a 5 day trip to the Bahamas with my friend Michelle (before she moves away- insert sad face). I wanted a tropical place to relax, enjoy nature and take beautiful photos. My conditions for the location were that we would find blue clear water and white sand. Well, we did (and then some- we actually found pink sand too)! We spoke to some people, we “consulted” Pinterest and we settled on Eleuthera, Bahamas. Now, what is remarkable about this island is how thin is it. You can literally walk across the narrow side in 10 min in certain places. We stayed on the Caribbean side but went to the Atlantic shore beaches (where the nice sand was). Another interesting fact to mention (which baffled me) is that when it was windy on one side, it was calm on the other…so you could pick what you wanted to experience that day: windy or still…fascinating place! We rented a car (couldn’t have done without) and traveled mainly in the top half of the island. My friend drove the entire time. I guess I was too coward to dare to take on the left side driving.

The Accommodations: AIRBNB

We didn’t want to stay in a resort, we wanted to get a feel for what it’s like to live in the Bahamas, not just what it’s like to visit. We scoured AIRBNB and found the place that fit us best- a perfect two people studio in Governor’s Harbor (the capital of Eleuthera). We had the whole “house” to ourselves, a spectacular view, indoor and outdoor shower and most importantly, access to the most gorgeous rock cliffs, with a platform from which we could jump in the water to swim and snorkel. The owners had adorable parrots which made sure to visit us each morning as we sipped our tea looking over the beautiful water of the Atlantic ocean and “beg” for their morsel of apple.

Our Favorite Beaches

The closest beach to our AirBnB was Hut Pointe and it was in walking distance. At 5-10 minute driving distance was the best beach we visited the whole time: French Leave Beach. I have to admit that I have a very vivid memory of walking up for the first time to the Hut Pointe beach. My heart was pounding, I was so excited…and it was an appropriate reaction:  this was the most perfect beach I had ever visited: private (we saw 5 people total in the 5 days we were there), white-pinkish sand and incredibly clear blue water with no debris.

Michelle and I visited this beach every day. Sometimes at sunset, other-times at sunrise. It was “our beach”.

French Leave Beach

Oh, hello pink paradise! This beach is one of the most famous beaches in the Bahamas and it has earned it’s reputation. It’s not as private as Hut Pointe but it does have the pinkest sand we found in the Bahamas…Michelle and I could not stop taking photos (we even brought some of the pink sand with us home)…it’s just such a unique experience to be in such a special place). We even met a stingray here…

Alabaster Beach

If you’re in Eleuthera and you want medium size sea shells you can actually take with you then check out Alabaster Beach. We visited at sunset and enjoyed the pretty view and picked sea shells for ourselves. I took some photos here for a client who makes incredible mala jewelry (check her out) 

The Food

There were plenty of restaurants that had American food but we only ate out at Bahamian places (which didn’t always get us the most welcoming glances). We cooked the rest of the time. We of course had try the conch salad which is a Bahamian traditional food (chopped tomato, cucumber, pepper, onion and conch with lemon juice). We also loved attending the customary fish fry on Friday nights downtown Governor’s Harbor- music, dancing, amazing food! The owner’s of the AirBnB joined as well 🙂 We drank either Rum Babas (delicious) or Kalik, the local Bahamian beer. Also, I ate 4-5 peanut cakes (peanuts, caramel, ginger made into a patty) and brought those home as souvenirs (yes, my friends really like me now).

Glass Window Bridge

Spending time here was certainly one of the brightest highlights of our trip. We were reckless enough to lower down across the sharp rock shore into the Caribbean waters. It was a risk that paid off. We had an incredible experience of still bright turquoise clear water. We were so filled with awe and peace we simply sat in the water by each other in silence.

Queen’s Bath

We almost didn’t stop by Queen’s bath and what a loss that would have been. It took our breath away…imagine insanely powerful waves crashing into sharp cliffs making spays as tall as a three tall building, all the while harboring quiet, still puddles of water…Yep…that cool!

Photographer Sidenote

I am pretty sure The Bahamas is where God plays with color…in the sky, in the water…in your soul. I am forever impacted by the intensity and beauty of the nuances of blue I witnessed here. Thank you Bahamas!